Herbs Guide

Mullein

Family Name: Scrophulariaceae

Botanical Name(s): Verbascum Thapsus

Popular Name(s): Mullein, Great Mullein, Velvet Plant, White Mullein, Verbascum Flowers, Bullock's Lungwort, Cow's Lungwort.

Parts Used: The dried flower petals are used

Habitat: It is distributed all over Europe and parts of Asia.

Description: Mullein is a hardy biennial with gray-green, woolly leaves and yellow flowers in the summer. The leaves near the base of the stem are large and numerous, 6 to 8 inches long and 2 to 2 1/2 inches broad, but become smaller as they ascend the stem.

Uses: It is used for coughs, whooping cough, bronchitis, laryngitis, tonsillitis, tracheitis, asthma, influenza, tuberculosis, urinary tract infections, nervous tension and insomnia. Although it is particularly effective to loosen mucus in the lungs it also shows some success with reducing water retention. The whole plant seems to possess slightly sedative and narcotic properties.